Starting the Weekend Right

by jenna on September 12, 2008

A wine tasting complete with chocolate, cheese and crackers is definitely the right way to start the weekend in my book!!!! I actually really surprised myself today because I really liked some of the wines we tried and usually I hate sweet wines! Well, let me take that back. I hate Arbor Mist. With an undying passion. I can’t even smell the stuff due to a little episode when I was 18 years old and, well, you get the picture.

For the past five years I have stayed clear of any and all sweet wines because of it. But then I tried Moscao D’Asti and discovered that not all sweet wines lead to the bathroom floor and migraines! This wine tasted like honeysuckle and would be the perfect thing after dinner with a cookie. The other wines we tried today included Lunetta Prosecco (liked this as well—apparently Prosecco is “the new thing”), Rosa Regale, SA Prum and Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc, which was a little too dry for my tastes. Overall, we tasted five wines and I probably had about three sips of each, except the Moscato D’Asti, which I drank the entire one ounce pour because it was that good. We also had some Carr’s water crackers (love these), some chocolate chips and cheese cubes. I had two crackers in between wines to cleanse my palate, one chocolate chip before trying the Rosa Regale and one cheese cube because I love cheese.

Now I’m ready for the weekend! I had a lighter lunch when I got home because of my mid-morning snacks and because I wasn’t starving after all that sipping and munching. I had a morningstar farms black bean burger on a Rudi’s english muffin with a slice of reduced fat cheddar, hot sauce and ketchup. I CRAVE these sammies! They are SOOO good!!! I also had a pear and I’m quite full now.

I keep going back and forth if I want to work out today or just designate it a rest day. I can’t make up my mind. My shin is sore so definitely no running! I guess I’ll just never be the type that can run everyday. Oh well. I want to get up and run tomorrow so I must rest today!

I’m packing up and heading home to Tampa. We don’t have anything major planned this weekend. No crazy college madness like last weekend! I think tonight Ryan and I either might go to this wine tasting at a wine bar a couple blocks from our apartment or go out to dinner somewhere casual. Tomorrow night we are having dinner at my parent’s house and my mom is making my FAVORITE Engagement Scampi! I’m in charge of the wine so I might hit up Total Wine and test my food pairing wine skills!

See y’all tonight! Have a super fantastic Friday afternoon (woah that was enthusiastic!) haha

So glad you like the Moscato–that’s my favorite dessert wine, for sure. It’s super sweet, but served so cold that it’s actually kind of refreshing. I usually get a glass for dessert anytime I go out for Italian.
Plus, your black bean sandwich looks Amazing!

I have the same problem with sweet wine. I haven’t been able to handle it since I have a similar bad experience back in college. Maybe I should give white wine another try? I justt need to stay away from the cheap stuff and riesling in the blue bottle. Just thinking of the blue bottle makes my stomach turn 4 years later…

was the bad experience getting drunk on the wine? or did a wine just make you sick?

i have to agree, im not a huge fan of sweet wines! i do love some moscatos on occasion though. i have a friend of a friend who lives in torino, italy and her family produces moscato wines. tasting moscato in torino, a traditional aperitivo, was really delish.

Ugh….I had a similar experience with Arbor Mist in college…it seemed like a good idea at the time! I don’t even like to classify it as wine, I like to call it…sugar alcohol hangover from hell…in a bottle.

Hey Jenna!!
I just wanted to tell you about these amAzing yoga classes that I downloaded from http://www.yogatothepeople.com for free – they rocked my world and wanted to share for those days you – or any of your lovely readers – don’t feel up to running, but still want a good stretch, strengthen, enliven, and a delicious yoga practice. Seriously, they’re really good
Have a gorgeous day everyone!!
Yolie x
PS: love the blog, read it every day!! and i loved the quote you posted about doing what makes you come alive, thank you for sharing!!

oh my goodness, Moscato is my FAVORITE dessert wine! i just had it a couple of months ago for the first time and i fell in love. i might need to pick up a bottle for tonight i couldn’t find the agar powder (people in this town have never heard of hummus, so that can give you an idea of what i’m dealing with haha) so i decided to roll with a pear ginger crumble.
hope you have a happy friday!

Hi Jenna — ugh, my shin was killing me after my run today, too! Even after ALL those precautions. I wonder why some people have no problem at all . . . and others can’t seem to escape them no matter what they do. I’ll keep you posted if I find any magic tricks. Have a great weekend!

I agree with yolie about Yoga to the People. When I lived in NYC last summer, it was my go-to yoga studio (I was seriously obsessed) and was totally bummed when I came back to Georgia for school. Finding these podcasts literally made my week!

And I also love those Black Bean burgers! So amazing. I’m glad you’re loving the new schedule — I wish I was done at noon on Fridays, too! Wine is the perfect way to start off a great weekend. Have a good one!

Ehh without getting into too gross (even gross for me to remember and it’s been 5 years now) details, let’s just say it was only the second time I had ever drank…saw Arbor Mist at CVS and thought “how awesome, it’s only $2.99!!!!!!!”. Went to party at the beach. Drank entire bottle. Got massive headache. Threw up all night long. I think everyone has a story like that?!! I only have three horrible drinking stories ( I don’t think that’s so bad?!) and that’s numero uno.

Arielle,

I really don’t think so. I think it tastes like Milky Way but that’s just me. I saw your post earlier and I, too, think that the new kashi bars that you tried taste completely awful—very metallicy and ick!!! I would give this a try…you can just buy one at Target or something for $1.50 so you might as well! I feel like it’s a junk food…

I’ll have to look into those podcasts!!! Thanks for the recommendation!!

hey jenna,
i’m not a professional in any way (so totally feel free to take or leave my advice), but I run about 50 miles a week (and have dealt with a slew of shin crap), so this is purely anecdotal. if your shins are aching, NEVER stretch them cold, and if they’re really bad, refrain from stretching them at all. I have notoriously crampy calves, and I’ve always been told to “knead” them rather than stretch them. Sit down, completely relax all the surrounding muscles, and use your best “bread dough” technique on them after every run